Dobe's sister
by abc27
Summary: Sasuke was sent on a mission to Mist village by Kakashi to investigate the strange activities in that area. However, he did not expect meeting up with his friend's long lost sister and bringing her back to his brother for a possible reunion. But, is that all he is going to do?
1. Zetsu

**First Naruto fic, other than cross-overs. Got inspired to write it when I read a certain book. I couldn't help but characterize the hero in that book with Sasuke. So, here is Sasuke's version. Hope you enjoy.  
**

 **Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto or the image.  
**

* * *

 **Prologue: Sasuke was sent on a mission to Mist village by Kakashi to investigate the strange activities in that area. However, he did not expect meeting up with his friend's long lost sister and bringing her back to his brother for a possible reunion. But, is that all he is going to do?**

* * *

The line connecting the earth and the trees was a deep green, and the roots of mossy trees and vines coiled around thick trucks in circles. The tree in the sunlight growing towards the heavens was likely hundreds of years old, and yet, its tips were sprouting new buds. White Mist began gathering as sun began to set.

A person looked down upon the tree from above it. From behind long bangs peeked his left eye's supreme _Rinnegan_. The right pupil's ordinary glance carried the Uchiha's bloodline limit, sharingan.

This person was Uchiha Sasuke.

"….."

From the top of the large tree Sasuke gazed at the vast landscape stretched in all directions before him. After the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Sasuke had returned home again to Konoha, but left shortly after for a second time. He was travelling the world.

Sasuke's family and clan had been painfully stolen away from him. He was left alone to try to endure through the strong poison of hatred. But he was led astray, searching through a path of darkness. He lost sight of the important things. Only after a very long time did Sasuke finally realize this.

He also sensed the world slowly changing **.** The Fifth Hokage sought action to extinguish the war, and public order gradually had utilized their powers to defend their own countries and invade foreign lands, and now, with the development of machinery that could convey information in a matter of seconds, improved medical institutions and technology, and good relations with other countries, chakra could be utilized for growth in various fields. The world was facing a time of new growth. For this reason, the problem could not be ignored.

–Otsutsuki Kaguya.

When the fighting was supposed to be finished in the world, why was it necessary that people be placed under the Infinite Tsukiyomi to fight again?

Those who hold power brutally seek to dominate those controlled by fear is one possibility that comes to mind, but there were no clear answers. To clear away the doubt, Sasuke was following Kaguya's footsteps. But she was the mother of chakra, and even with his sharingan, her footsteps were not easy to follow.

"…hn?"

He blinked as he sensed a person approaching from the north east direction. He crouched and hid in a thicket into the side of a steep slope, letting the white mist from the land of mist do its part. He blinked when a girl emerged from the roots.

He hid here silently, listening to the din of her clumsy approach and watched her stumble and limp before she snapped her head in a direction towards what swept towards them. A hollowed out screech. Probably some creatures or ninja hounds used to track scent and flesh.

She was delicately built, probably no older than he was judging by the way her eyes scanned the area. He would have thought her to be barely past her first bleed were it not for the huge bulge in the chest area underneath her jacket.

Her hair was the one that caught his interest immediately. That color of shade, that blonde hair was uncanny. It was the same color as his friend, Uzumaki Naruto, the hero of the forth ninja war.

Her blue eyes turned towards his direction like she was able to tell someone was watching her. Interesting. Her pale face was dirty and she might have been out here for a while, struggling to escape whatever that hunted her.

And the knife she carried shook enough to suggest him that she likely had no idea what to do with it. Definitely not a shinobi.

But, that girl was somehow able to sense him. Maybe, she had the potential of a sensory ninja. She continued scanning the area, before a soft sigh escaped from her lips, and continued limping. Away from him.

He had entered this mist area because Kakashi informed him of some rogue ninjas banding together, probably for something evil and it was definitely bad news. Some likely experimentation by them. And, they were hunting this girl for whatever reason.

Wasn't this convenient. If he trailed her long enough, he would probably come into contact with this rogue shinobi. He leaped from his position, not even a twig rustling at his passing. The female version of his friend limped up to a stream, that knife set aside as she leaned forward to quench her thirst.

That knife probably won't help her anyway.

..

..

* * *

Uzumaki Naruko had been running for the past few hours. Mist covered the entire area, making it difficult for her to judge the direction to run.

It had been days since a kind old man had rescued her and offered her to head west towards the land of fire. That old man was weird, as he seemed to use rubber for his jutsu and stated something about knowing her brother. He ordered her to find her brother, Uzumaki Naruto who remained alive after all these years.

And, then she wanted to stay in Konoha, hoping to meet the hero of the forth ninja war and offer her services to him and his village, whichever that was. She did not care.

All her life, she was imprisoned in some dungeons of some town that didn't have any connection what-so-ever with the outer world. Her final moments there played in her head, where the rubber pops as she called him, released her and urged her to head west towards Land of fire.

She could only hope he still remained alive, which he probably was as he looked strong enough to tackle on five shinobi. Even with mist everywhere, she learnt that her precious commodity water was not so easily found.

She learnt it the hard way when she attempted to drink some stagnated water from a pond, fever climbing in few hours and shivering due to the cold nights. She wept silently during those days, thinking that she would die alone in this endless forest, and no one, not even her brother would know.

But, surprisingly, she recovered from the fever. Her bloodline might have played a part as she heard that the Uzumaki's were tenacious beings. Wondered if it was a gift or a curse to prevent her from dying all these years.

She swung her back pack and picked up the canteen. She had run out of food days ago and had to scavenge whatever berries she could find. She still wasn't desperate enough to hunt anything that moved. She ate her food in much earnest, licking every last part of it.

She did not trust herself to go to a nearby village with the money that the rubber pops trusted her with, or towards any travelers' fire she spotted this past week.

No. She had seen enough mercy of the men. She would never forget how those rogue shinobi leered at her naked self, why her self-proclaimed uncle sold her to this town for money.

As she made her way out the roots of a bush, two steps to the forward, she heard a loud screech fill the air. Probably the experiments that haunted her days and nights in that town. If she lingered here for too long, they would probably find her. She took out a knife as she tried to remember the person who gave it to her. Some mysterious guy dressed in a black cloak with red cloud patterns was gracious enough to gift her.

But, she had no idea on how to use it. Nor, that dark haired guy had advised her. What was she supposed to do with it when her opponents were some highly skilled shinobi and probably few experimented animals.

As she strode forward, dragging her injured leg with her wrenching at her ankles, she sensed someone else watching her. Like all her senses seemed to go off.

Not those weird animals. Not those rogue shinobi. But, someone else was watching her.

Someone was following her. She walked forward through the uneven land, and moved forward until she heard water fluttering. Probably a stream was near.

She moved towards the area, and her eyes shone at her findings. She knew that it was impossible to shake whatever that was hunting her, as she herself was lost.

With no track of the sun in the dense forest and the mist making it difficult, she had no choice but to continue along the path she was going. She dropped the knife in the grass beside, and leaned forward to quench her thirst, drinking quickly and swiftly. The water filler her belly with the gaps of berries and root.

Then, she opened her canteen and refilled it. Her fingers were shaking uncontrollably, making her drop the cap into the stream.

As soon as she leaned forward to pat the rocks and the slender weeds in the stream, a cold object brushed past her skin. She blinked, immediately yanking to the side as she closed the cap hurriedly.

That was a kunai. Had they already found her?

She blindly clenched her canteen as she ran towards a tree. She stood with her back against the bark, her canteen position in front of her stomach.

Weapon. She needed some sort of weapon –

How foolish of her to have dropped it in the grass! The knife lay few feet away from her. As she looked around her surroundings once more, debating whether to make a run for the sword, a masked figure landed before her.

Her face paled as she remembered that mask. He was her guard, her warden to be exact and she knew he was probably grinning wickedly underneath that mask. That sick, cruel smile.

"It was a good decision to leave the group behind, ~ don't you think so?" He said, taking a step forward. "Those dogs were making us slow, so I thought as your warden, I should be the one to end your life for escaping from me."

She found herself hard against the trunk of the tree behind her. She tried moving to her side, only for kunai to be impaled into the stem cutting of her escape. Her eyes went back to shaking head of the man who looked amused.

"This will be the last face that you are ever going to see." He removed his mask to show his ever the same wicked expression. Just as she had thought. She wanted to scream, but no one would probably come anyway.

As his breath hissed against her skin, she shut her eyes tightly when he drew back the sword. But, the pain never came.

Maybe death was supposed to be painless. Then, why was her face dripping of something warm and sludgy. She slowly peeked at her hands to see them drenched in bright scarlet red. She screamed at the sight, thinking it to be her blood.

She lifted her head to glare at the murderer, but froze as soon as she did. That cunning smile looked like it remained plastered forever on his face, his eyes looked glassy. Her eyes then darted to the hand that was emerging from his chest.

Maybe due to her fear and exhaustion, she didn't notice. But, now that her senses came back to her, she could hear distinct birds chirping sound. The hand was retracted from the chest, and the warden, her ex-guard's body fell down with a thud like a stringed doll being cut off from the source.

Her eyes then met strange twisted red eyes that would probably scare the shit out of any children. His lone eye seemed to devour her, as his face looked flawless, his hair equally black. His voice was cold and raspy as he spoke, "I suggest you to come with me, unless you want to die like him."

Her tenses tingled as the wind whispered into her ear, saying that she found her tracker.

..

..

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke had already sensed a shinobi approach their location. He heard the snarls in a distance and waited to see how things folded between the girl and him.

Were those two allies? Enemies? Conspiring?

A shinobi was known to be deceptive and it was his duty to read underneath the underneath. He simply could not jump in to save her as saving a damsel in distress, so he chose not to act even when the masked man appeared in front of her.

He might have suspected that this was all an act, a front to lure him out as the girl already seemed to sense him, were it not for the fear emanating from her. And for the fact that the missing nin was emitting pure killing intent was enough to warrant his suspicions.

As he discharged lightning from his hand, he pushed the victim's body aside and spoke to her. Her clothes and face was sprayed with the masked man's blood, probably because of him shoving a chidori from behind.

Her blue eyes, which again reminded him of Naruto, scanned him as she finally opened her mouth. "Who are you?"

Her voice was not what he expected. Low, cold and steady. And, he wasn't one to gloat, but didn't she know what a sharingan was?

"Hn, if you are so intent on dying," He said, turning in the direction towards the mist village. "Then keep asking more questions, for all I care."

And a second set of howls echoed through the thick bushes, closing in fast.

"Which direction?" He asked, not taking his eyes of the bushes. Those weren't normal howls. Probably, these beasts were mutated using forbidden techniques. He placed his hands on hilt of his kusanagi, waiting for her reply.

"West." She looked around, probably not knowing which direction west was. "I was told to go west. These summons… you know that shinobi contract with -"

"I know what a summon is."

Temper snapped in her face at his tone, but fear and anxiety washed it away. Then the howl was heard, a lot closer than intended. A hunting prey, screeching. God only knows what kind of stunted experiments those idiots carried.

"Run." He ordered.

She obeyed. Sasuke had to give her some credit. Despite being a non-shinobi, despite her exhaustion and injured leg, she ran like swiftly through the leaves. Sasuke ran a bit behind, assessing his surroundings and each time covering how much ever distance she covered in a single leap. He was one of the fastest shinobi around, so that was to be expected.

Bushes rustled behind them from either direction. Two to three maybe. Braches seemed to be snapped violently, and heavy thud noises could be heard. Sasuke eyed the blonde who had reached the top of the hill, still keeping an eye on that leg.

They would have to treat it sooner and wash all the blood of her after they get out of this. But, for now, he needed her to escape. He frowned a bit as she stammered against a rock, wobbling her way for some meters. She was still nowhere fast enough.

The creatures seemed to be of either side to him now. "Keep running!" He shouted, and she sprinted without as much looking backwards. He halted to a stop, spinning around his position to face these summons.

He let his chakra flow, dance in his coils as he activated his sharingan. The sharingan that destroyed many lives, started a great ninja war and capable of many feats. He did not think the summons or whatever they were would fare any better.

Those creatures halted to a stop around him, sizing their predator up. As they made their way from the dark patches of the trees, Sasuke found no words.

Some weird pale looking creatures emerged from the shadows, resembling a lot of werewolves. Face looked a lot like human, yet familiar to the one he had already slain before. The beast resembled a cross-over of white Zetsu and some summon if the piercings all over its body were any indication. It had large claws that promised nothing but sweet pain.

After the war, many Zetsu bodies were left wasted on the battle field. It was possible for few scoundrels to take away its dead bodies and conduct few experiments on them. The shape of its body was not what mesmerized him. It was the grin these creatures had.

Whatever experiments they were doing could not be done with good intentions. Crawling up, a beast came forward towering him. "If it isn't Uchiha Sasuke."

Maybe the Zetsu still retained their memories. He took out his sword. "Some of you were still crawling, I see."

A flash of panic crossed the Zetsu's face at his cold tone, before it disappeared as quickly. "What are you doing out here?!"

"I passed through few towns on my way here. But, they were deserted." He let lightning crackle into his sword. "I thought something wasn't quite right but figures that you were responsible for it."

"We won't let you leave," Those four beasts surrounded him. It grinned maniacally. "After all, you were the one who killed our original."

Sasuke let a smirk fall on his lips. "I hope it's more of a challenge now that you underwent some intensive modifications. Especially since your peers died very easily last time."

That taunt seemed to do the trick as they dashed towards him. Sasuke immediately stabbed his sword into the ground, letting the lightning flow through the surface. "Chidori Nagashi!"

The electricity hit them, stunning it. Then, he moved faster than they could comprehend. He got to the one closest to him and cut its head off, before swinging his sword to block the second ones attack.

He let his sharingan do the trick, as he got onto the second's back easily. He stabbed through its back gripping his sword in a reverse grip. He noted the other two charging at him from the opposite directions.

So, he took out a huge shuriken and threw it in a smooth motion towards one. As the other watched in horror, he flickered behind it, slashed diagonally across its body. It all happened in a few seconds that by the time the first body dropped, the others were on the ground too.

He released a sigh, before straightening again when he noticed some twitching behind him. Two of those beasts got up again. They looked like healing –

No. It was reviving. Like how an edo tensei works. It was completely plausible that Orochimaru wasn't the only one interested in the Edo Tensei technique. But, these bodies were completely made of flesh. As his brother, Itachi liked to say, everything has a weakness.

He looked around at the other two, who had blood flowing out near the neck. Those two didn't get up. Beheading it is then.

The Zetsu before him, smiled in delight.

"Why are you after her?" Sasuke asked.

They were not after him. They just stumbled across him and got side tracked. Their real target was the girl. Crouching a bit, he wondered how far the female dobe got by now.

"It's none of your concern."

"Wrong answer," His sharingan morphed into ocular version. Purple flames coated around him at that moment without warning, and an ethereal being surrounded him, starting from skeleton. As its arms seemed to form, the adjacent trees were all uprooted. "Susanoo!"

The one at the back screeched in pain from the black flames that were emerging from the Susanoo. Behead it… he didn't care. Amaterasu worked just fine. He stabbed the other with a purple sword when it tried to flee.

These skeleton arms brought the last withering Zetsu near him. He could see the flesh that tried to regenerate clash hard against the Susanoo sword, preventing it from healing that hole. He forced the Zetsu to look into his eyes.

Panic eyes were met with cold ones as conscious was forcibly robbed of him.

"Sharingan." Sasuke had used a genjutsu on it. "Now tell me, why are you after that girl?"

The pain it seemed to be having was forgotten at the moment due to the effects of the sharingan. "Preparations for the war… capture the girl. She is important to our leader."

"Preparations does look thorough," Sasuke mumbled. "Why is she important?"

"She is a thief and a murderer. She must be taken to our leader for justice."

Sasuke gave out a low chuckle at the strange words he just heard from Zetsu. "You'll bring her to justice? That can't be it. What else do you require her for?"

"She is an important asset for us. A negotiation."

Maybe, there was more to that girl than Sasuke thought. "With whom?"

"With the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki."

Sasuke blinked. Now, why was Naruto's name taken out in this? "Why would he want her?"

"The leader was specific not to give any info to us. Only he and a select few know of the information you seek."

Sasuke tsk'ed under his breath. Looks like this was all the information he was going to get at the moment. "Amaterasu."

He let that infernal flames burn it to crisp as the Susanoo dispelled. His eyes reverted back to its obsidian state as he sighed. It seemed this girl was important for whatever reasons. It didn't matter. He would find out.

And, so he ran in the direction the girl escaped. She probably couldn't have gone far with that injured leg, which he suspected that Zetsu had something to do with.


	2. Naruko

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto or the image.**

* * *

 **Story so far: Sasuke found out that few Zetsu's still remained alive and there were some serious experimentation going on them. They were after a blonde girl who was supposed to be a negotiation factor for his friend Naruto. Just what was going on in the mist?**

* * *

Uzumaki Naruko made it perhaps half a mile before the forest was free of the gloomy tension in air and full of life again. Birds chirping chittered through the forest as she came to a halt to catch her breath, clenching her dagger she picked on the way.

She then fell to her knees and vomited.

All that tension finally took its toll, though she mostly vomited only water and bile. She was so busy hurling up her insides in fear that she didn't notice anyone's approach until it was too late.

A firm hand gripped her shoulder and whirled around.

She tried to swing her dagger as she spun around, but she was too slow. The same hand left and in a heartbeat took out a katana and threw her dagger off her.

Naruko found herself staring into the scowl of the man who had killed her warden.

"How?" she said, stumbling away from the raven haired man. How was he able to catch up to her this quick when he was facing something vicious not so long ago. Granted, she thought of coming back to help the man but what could she do instead of just serving as a distraction.

"Who are you?" He snarled, not liking whatever he faced back then. His scowl deepened before his head snapped back in the direction he came from. She followed his gaze and found nothing.

When she looked back to his face, a sword now lay against her throat.

She fell back on her butt to escape the sharp edge of his sword, but he simply moved forward and held the sword again in the same position. "Who are you? Why were they chasing after you?"

He would probably strike her even if she made a tiniest move. Better to offer the truth. Her azure eyes met his lone black orb as she spoke after a moment, "My name is Naruko and those creatures seek me because I managed to escape from their boss. I flee towards land of fire – for safety."

Before she could blink, he sheathed his sword and she felt a tinge of pain across her arm a second later. A cut about the length of a small needle, so small that she would have doubted he inflicted it had it not been the precision.

They both watched as red blood oozed a little and dribbled onto the grass beneath her arm.

It seemed to satisfy something for him as he now crouched in front of her. She bent back slightly as he raised his right arm but relaxed as soon as she saw him taking out a few bandage straps. She winced slightly as he applied something on her cut and applied pressure on the wound with the strap.

"Tie it." His voice was harsh, but she couldn't really say anything. She glared at the man, cussing him silently and began wrapping the cloth around her forearm. First, he gives her a cut for his own convenience without asking anything and then he orders her to do first aid herself. Definitely not a gentleman.

"What is going on in this country?" He asked, but she herself knew only so much. Kakashi hadn't mentioned much anyway. Just said that some old problems still persisted in the mist and that they requested aid from leaf. Since, he was in the cloud village, he was asked to look into it.

She sat there wrapping the cloth silently, ignoring him before he grabbed her arm and forced her to look at him. "I am asking you. You deaf?"

She fought the urge to lunge at the man. But that wouldn't accomplish much as this man seemed faster than her. Sighing, "I take it that you are a foreigner." He didn't respond and just stood like she hadn't even said anything.

He did not seem to have at least a little common courtesy. He could have at least given her an answer. Who was she kidding? Might as well expect the tree beside her to talk. "The mist has been this way ever since Yondaime of the mist village died." Her caretaker was a really talkative and an annoying guy. Good thing he was dead now. "The upper half is under the control of whoever you encountered back there. The lower half belongs to the mist village, which is slowly now beginning to regain its hold on this land. The reason you probably haven't heard this before is because no country wants to reveal its problems voluntarily. That would cause other countries to invade to exploit their weakness, which I don't think would be happening anytime as _peace_ has been established."

The man seemed to be satisfied by whatever answers he had given her, though one thing seemed to bug him. But, it looked like he wasn't going to ask on it now.

"I am Uchiha Sasuke," he said as she blinked in surprise. So, he does have some decency after all. And with that, he hauled her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and ran. There went whatever decency he had into thin air.

But, she understood three things as he ran.

One, those creatures were still chasing after them and were hot on their trail and closing in fast.

Two, he seemed to wince slightly when she had told her name.

And, this guy who was leaping onto the branches and moving swift as a wind, was an Uchiha and a shinobi.

..

..

* * *

Sasuke ran and ran, his lungs gobbling down huge amounts of forest's chilly air. The girl that was slung over his shoulder did not as much as whimper as the miles passed. Only chilly air seemed to going down his lungs and he knew that they would have to stop to rest soon.

He finally slowed down when he felt his energy beginning to flag, thanks to the usage of his chakra in the battle against Zetsu version 2.0 and when his muscles began to scream at him for a break.

He was lucky. The girl was at least smart enough, as he half expected her to run back during the fight with Zetsu much like how his friend would. That would have caused nothing but slow him down, so she seemed to be smart enough to assess her opponents and obey his orders.

Not a complete fool as he made her out to be, it seems. This once again proved his brother's words, not to judge on appearance alone. Just because she looked the female version of dobe doesn't actually mean she is him.

He jogged to stop as he leaped below a branch and set her hard against a tree's trunk. She winced a bit and hopped on that injured ankle. At times like these he wished at least Sakura or Karin were with him. Her blood was flowing red down her ankle and not blackish blue that flowed in Zetsu and Zetsu 2.0. That meant that she wasn't a Zetsu transformed as her to ambush him.

That still didn't explain her appearance and her name.

Naruko. Replace k with t, it becomes Naruto. It seemed too good to be a coincidence. Was some cruel joke played on him, Sasuke had to wonder.

"Where are we going?" She said, swinging her duffel bag to pull out her canteen. He half expected tears and prayers and begging. She just uncorked the cap of the tin-steeled container coated by a raspy cloth and swigged deep. Then, to his surprise offered him some.

Sasuke stared at her blankly as she muttered something about talking to a pole and drank again.

"We are going to towards the edge of this forest, towards the Yoshino River."

"Where are… where are we exactly?" The hesitation said enough. She probably didn't want him to know how vulnerable she was with that question but maybe decided that she was too desperate for an answer.

"In the middle of this forest, a day's hike from mist village." He said, wondering how she was going to cross the large oceans without any help or money. Probably would sow her way through guts, as his friend liked to say.

She said, "Are we moving again or can I sit for a moment."

Sasuke looked around for any traces of chakra and then cocked his head.

Naruko seemed to roll her eyes at this before she sat on a rock and leaned her back against the damp trunk. She then looked at him from top to bottom, like she was surveying him. "I thought all the Uchiha were dead after the last war. Heard that there weren't many survivors even before that."

"You don't need to be so disappointed," He said as he looked into her ocean blue eyes. "For I am the last survivor of the Uchiha clan."

"Which country are you from?"

"Land of fire," he said. "And, you are from land of mist."

"Not from," She said with some disdain. "Escaping from."

"Why?"

Her eyes narrowed at his question. She knew he still probably didn't believe her ever since she told her name. Yet, she didn't answer, instead leaned over and unlaced her sandal. Her fingers trembled a bit as she yanked off the sandal and slowly removed a dirty cloth hung over her left ankle. She rolled her pant a bit to reveal…

Sasuke blinked. Not because of her actions, but because of the sight she showed him. He had seen many disfigured bodies during his days near the mad scientist, Orochimaru. But, rarely did he see a wound as hers. Right above her misshapen ankle lay wounds that still showed some flesh. They were probably still healing. Her leg was a mess of scar tissue and a badly clotted ankle.

He had to briefly wonder what kinds of things were done to her in that godforsaken village.

She said quietly, "I was treated as a slave ever since my uncle sold me to them to get rich. They would normally torture me and at the same time, I was forced to work over all day long." She slightly clenched the dirty cloth. "These were made by my warden who you killed earlier. I am grateful for that." Sasuke only nodded as she continued. "This injury was caused during my escape from there." She showed the bloody ankle.

Naruko then rolled her pant, but left her foot bare as she massage it. She winced slightly as she continued pressing her palm against the ankle.

Sasuke then sat beside her, bringing out a medical kit hidden in the seal on his right forearm. "Tell me more of this village." He said, and chucked her the kit which Sakura had prepared for him.

The teen stared at it with a sharp gaze, trying to figure out who he was, if he was a good person and slowly took it in her hands. She, then raised it to the eye level, nodding slightly in agreement. She then began going through the kit and found few herbs and began rubbing it across her blood beaten ankle.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she rubbed the herbs.

And, as she rubbed, she spoke.

She told him of Rubber pops, of the hidden experiments they conducted behind the mountains and of the growls she heard during her stay in the dungeons. She told him of how the castle exploded one night and how rubber pops came to her and handed her a few things. She saw as she took the chance and ran into the thick trees only to be interrupted by those creatures. How that pops fought it as he covered for her escape, not before a fatal injury was given to her ankle by the creature.

"Since then, I've been running," She said, staring of into distance. "Apparently, I've barely made it to the coast."

"And, move to Land of fire?"

She only looked west. "Yes."

Sasuke leaned a bit forward. Now would probably be a good time to dig for some answers, "What is in Land of fire? Your family?" He had not asked why she was sold to this mystery village in the first place. Only something bad could have happened, but he wasn't going to force it out of her.

Her face tightened, "Rubber pops helped me out of that village. I don't even know if he is alive. He told me to find my brother who lives in Konoha. So, my first task is learning who he is and pay him some sweet old pain for leaving his imouto alone."

All alarms set of in Sasuke's body. Brother? In Konoha? Whisker cheeks, blue eyes, blonde hair and name 'Naruko.' You have got to be kidding him! Why didn't he observe the whisper cheeks before? Was it because her face was all dirty before?

"And, then," She continued not noticing the sudden shift in his face. "I need to find this village which harbors the hero of the forth great ninja war, and offer my services to that country."

"Why?" Aside from her apparent, crude sensory skills, Konoha would find no use of her.

Naruko's full mouth tightened. "Because I want the peace that has been established after so long to remain even after many years to come. I want this country's issues to be resolved and bring justice to the rascals who are still lurking around. So that no other sibling will be taken up from her family and forgotten."

Sasuke briefly debated whether telling her that her brother and the hero of the forth ninja war are same. But, that would lead to more questions and he was in no mood to answer her. He needed to be absolutely sure that she was first indeed dobe's sister and then, inquire why was she never brought up by Naruto?

"Why are you inquiring about this village? Everyone else is fleeing from the north as people are worried that a battle might ensue."

"I am here to correct my clan's mistake," He said as her eyes widened. "I am here seeking retribution. I am here to stop the threat it possess."

"But, you are just one man… only a human." She did not mean it as an insult. She probably meant that how much one man's contribution would affect a country.

But, Sasuke stared her down anyway. "I have my skills."

Her eyes darted to his right hand, which still held her warden's blood. She still remembered how unfazed he was when he shoved a hand right through her warden's chest. His eyes held no emotion, no anger nor remorse when he killed.

He waited for her to ask some more questions, but she took a new cloth from the kit and added some medicine to it and wrapped it around her ankle. Then, she placed her leg into her sandal and stood up wincing slightly, "We should get moving."

Indeed. She walked a few steps forward, wincing along the way but gave an appreciative frown at her leg. God knows after how long she had dressed that wound. A septic was sure to form if it was not treated soon. She had bent down to retrieve the medical kit, her long blonde hair sweeping over face. At some point, she lost the braid and her hair became free as a process.

She rose and nudged the kit along the left side of his body. She frowned when she only felt his ribs and did not feel his left hand. He turned and caught it with his right hand. "What happened to your left arm?"

"Lost it in a battle." Was his simple response.

She blinked, but did not push further on how he lost it. It was a common occurrence for shinobi to become handicapped on a mission. "Once we reach Yoshino River, then?"

He stored the tin in his seal, "There are many boats and countess merchants that go to the land of fire. I arrived here the same way. Once we've crossed the huge ocean and wandered enough into the grasslands, you'll head west and I'll head east and come back here."

Her eyes narrowed slightly, "Why are you helping me?" Oh, right. Retribution and all.

"I want more details regarding this base of operation and its interior. And, I am helping you for my own reasons. I'll keep you from danger until we reach the other side of the shore."

The sun finally began to descent into the foggy mists, its light now barely falling on them. Naruko frowned slightly, "Do you promise that you'll protect me?"

"I saved you today, didn't I?"

She eyed him with a forthrightness and frankness that made him pause. "Swear it."

That look in her eyes reminded him of Naruto and a bit of the Yondaime, Namikaze Minato when he was reanimated. That honest look… "I promise." Even though he never really made anyone any promise before. "I will not abandon you. I promise to stay by your side."

She nodded, seemingly satisfied with that. "Then I will tell you what I know."

He started westward, but was stopped by her catching his shoulder.

"The upper half belongs to those scoundrels. They likely have many missing nin working for them," Naruko said as he looked at her to continue. "This river you mentioned is near that crossing between the lower half and upper half. Since we are still in the upper half, we should be careful. They'll be hunting for me at every crossroad and search every wagon. If they found me in this forest, what's not to say that they won't find me in one of the main roads?"

Sasuke turned towards her, "Do you have some idea on how to go about it?"

A small smile made its way to her rosy lips, despite her misery and the horrors she escaped. "I might."

* * *

 **Next chapter: Kakashi finds about Naruto's sister.**


	3. The problem

**Thank you for the reviews. It means a lot that people are following this story.**

 **Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto or the image. You'll observe some content is taken from Sasuke Shinden.  
**

* * *

 **Story so far: Sasuke began traveling with a blonde who claimed to be dobe's sister. He still had to obtain evidence, but decided to travel with her in exchange of her providing info on the mystery village.**

* * *

Hatake Kakashi, the Sixth Hokage was having a serious headache as he turned to look outside the window of his cabin, getting only a mere glimpse of the huge village from his place.

The enormous gates connecting the village to the outside world shut out the dark night. The soft moonlight shining from behind clouds illuminated the carved, stone faces of the previous Hokage. Throughout the shinobi villages, the history of the Land of Fire and The Hidden Leaf were particularly old.

Once before, 'Akatsuki's' Pein had attacked the village, causing devastating damage to the Hidden Leaf, but now it was more prosperous than it had been even before the attack. Even the population, which had suffered greatly from the Fourth Great Ninja War, was gradually recovering. Those trying times were an essential part of what now made the village so successful.

A letter had arrived from the Hidden Mist and Kakashi, had just finished sending confirmation.

"…this is quite serious." He took a deep breath.

More than hundred ninjas of mist village were taken out by unidentified monsters. About half of the land of mist was controlled by some master mind ninja, probably with the intentions of starting a war. Just when they were beginning to heal from the scars of the previous war.

Though the people in the mist were biased right now. Half of them were siding with the north, which was supposed to be the hub of this new foe. The lower half consisted of water daimyo and mist village. At the moment, negotiations seemed to be going in between the two parties ever since that incident happened.

In the past, these sort of matters were kept confidential, but more and more these days information seemed to extend to the five nation's hidden villages, and this news was sent to the Hidden Leaf, the Hidden Stone, the Hidden Cloud and the Hidden Sand respectively. In the present world, the state of one land's affairs concerned the others. When this news arrived, Kakashi promptly contacted Konoha's ninjas.

He suspected that these parties were actually hiding when the forth great ninja war occurred, biding their time and decided to surface now that the villages were considerably weakened. He had to tread this carefully, as a temporary peace was now established in the mist, but he suspected that it wouldn't remain for long.

A covert operation needed to be undertaken. But, first they needed some sort of intel. Sai would be ideal for situations like these- infiltration and relaying messages but Kakashi knew that in case of overwhelming enemy, Sai would be at a loss.

Sasuke thought the same when he heard the news from Kakashi. And, since he was already somewhere near the mist due to his journey, Kakashi decided to let Sasuke handle it. Though Sasuke's infiltration skills may not be on par with Sai, he had complete faith in his old student and more importantly, it gave Sasuke another chance to do a mission on behalf of Konoha.

He heard a knock on his office door.

"Hokage-sama," The voice was that of the previous Hokage's aid, Shizune.

"Yes, come in," Kakashi replied. Shizune now aided him as his assistant. "Please drop the sama at the end. I thought I already told you this."

"Pardon me, Sixth, but I have a report from Sai….." Her face was in the crack of the open door, and her dim expression hinted to Kakashi of what was to come. Sai had been requested to send the information to Sasuke. This meant it most certainly reached him, but Shizune's expression looked worried.

"Ahh, continue," Kakashi called out.

"Well…." Shizune looked over her shoulder at the open door.

"Pardon me." Sai walked into the room wearing the same cunning smile he always wore.

"Pardon me….." Following Sai, came Haruno Sakura with an apologetic expression on her face as she gave him a sheepish smile.

"Hm?" Kakashi looked confused.

One more person decided to announce themselves entering behind Sakura.

"Yo! Kakashi-sensei!" With a boundless, goofy smile spread across his face, in walked the hero of the last Great War, Uzumaki Naruto.

"Come in, I guess Naruto," Kakashi sighed seeing that Naruto had already entered the room.

"I saw Sai going to meet you, so I followed him!" Naruto said with his grin without any hint of remorse.

Kakashi sighed once again, before turning to his last student, "You too, Sakura?"

Sakura smiled sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. "Well, I heard Sasuke-kun had received a mission. So, I decided to follow Sai and check on him."

Well, seems like his pink haired student was still after his old student. He guessed some things never change.

"Since you are here for that," Kakashi turned towards Sai. "Let's hear your report first."

"My message was safely received by Sasuke few days ago. He should have arrived in the mist by yesterday."

Sakura's heart beat steadied as she heard the news. Sasuke was safe, somewhere. As long he was safe, that was all that mattered for now. A sigh of relief escaped her lips.

"Kakashi-sensei, has there been some update on the news regarding mist village?" Naruto folded his arms behind his head, observing Kakashi's grim expression while he read Shizune's report.

Kakashi lifted his head to look at Naruto, not before he saw some worried looks Shizune sent towards Naruto. That was weird. He will have to ask the reason later.

"To tell you the truth, the matter was only recently brought to our notice." Kakashi leaned back in his chair to a more comfortable position. "At the moment, there seems to be a treaty in the mist though I am not sure how long it will hold."

As if god was playing with him, the moment he mentioned something about treaty and peace, explosions set off in the back ground. Smoke began arising in the direction the village gates located.

"Hokage-sama! Some intruders are trying to enter the village." Two anbu masked ninja shunshined in front his desk suddenly.

"Have they made contact with the barriers?"

The Hidden Leaf had barriers stretched around the entirety of the village, including underground and in the sky. After Akatsuki's attack, the barriers had been strengthened.

"Well…..they've already made it to our interior barriers at the front gates of the village…."

"What?!"

"Barrier Team ninjas are on their way to the sight right now…." The other anbu's sentence trailed off.

"….?!"

Just then, the sound of another explosion was heard from somewhere in the distance. Everyone's heads turned towards the open window again.

"Kakashi-sensei, there are flames…." Sakura pointed in the direction where the explosion had sounded. It had created a fire.

"Kakashi-sensei, we'll handle the matter and report back, 'ttebayo!"

Sai followed Naruto and Sakura out of the window and stood outside. Sai opened his scroll and lowered to his waist level. Then, in a smooth motion he drew something on it with his paint brush and made a hand sign.

"Ninja art: Choju giga!"

From the scrolls, two ink birds came to life flapping their wings and shrieked. Then, Sai got onto one bird while Naruto and Sakura got on the other.

"I entrust the matter to you." They nodded at Kakashi's words before taking off in the direction of the smoke.

"Hokage-sama! I'll leave this note of Sasuke I just got on the table." Shizune dropped a note as Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"I trust that you have already read the note." Kakashi pointed as Shizune only nodded. "Is it by any chance related to Naruto?"

"…How did you know?"

Kakashi only nodded as his guess turned out to be correct. "I had guessed seeing your worried expression and how you looked at Naruto. Don't worry, he didn't notice anything." Shizune sighed in relief as Kakashi continued to stare at the note. "Is it bad?"

"Well," Shizune slightly rubbed her arms. "When I read the contents, I did not believe it and thought there had to be a mistake. But, then again, I was never in the village when Naruto was born, so I thought you would have an idea."

"What is it about?" Kakashi took the note in his hands and identified the hand writing as that of Sasuke.

"Something about… well, some blood relative of Naruto."

"Naruto?" Kakashi looked back at Shizune with a curious expression.

"Hm," Shizune nodded. "Sasuke was asking us to check something about Naruto's family."

Sasuke asked that? Why the sudden interest in his rival's family?

Well, if Sasuke was asking, there had to be some sort of reason. "I'll look into it. For now, could you send the fire fighters to the area."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" Shizune bowed before she left the room in a hurry.

Kakashi stared at his student's note and then at the smoke. Sasuke was always a man of few words. Sasuke never asked anything trivial, so perhaps this was somewhat related to the mist situation.

But, Minato-sensei was already released from the reanimation and Kushina-san had been dead for many years. Perhaps, they had been revived again, or something worse.

But, if they were revived, it would make sense to revive others too. So, perhaps that is not the case as Sasuke only asked about details about Naruto's family. Just why was he asking this then?

..

..

* * *

Uzumaki Naruko kept quiet during the two days they trekked through the western edges of the forest, heading for the plains beyond the forest and before the shore.

For some reason, he hadn't spoken a lot now apart from asking questions about the layout near the village and the building she stayed at. Well, that had to be expected since she forgot that a pole could make better conversation than him.

Even she didn't ask him anything, letting him think that she was just some helpless girl blinded by his gratitude, as she still didn't trust the last Uchiha completely. Her warden often spoke of Uchiha and how they were the symbol of evil and their source of inspiration.

They had to be cold hearted individuals too, as a certain Uchiha who handed her the sword she was currently carrying by her side never showed up again. He didn't even give out any instructions and just had it handed to her via her warden who looked pretty afraid of the man. After he left, her warden spoke highly again of the man, like how he was the evil reincarnate and an S-class criminal in bingo book.

So, she kept quiet about the questions that were bugging her. Like, why had he been following her for some time and why he seemed so shocked when she cleaned her face of the dirt and blood. Or, more importantly, why was Konoha trusting him again and why he complied with their orders.

She heard his name too, unfortunately. The day her warden mentioned it around, the whole village was partying like fools because word got out that Uchiha Sasuke had attacked the five kage summit and faced them head on.

One kage and many samurai were dead according to the report after the incident and apparently, Sasuke escaped alive from the whole ordeal. The reason of admiration was probably because he didn't cower away because of his kekkei genkai as it was the case in the mist land during that time and instead faced the world head on.

So, she naturally assumed that Sasuke was dead when word got out that they won the war. She assumed that he died or got held captive as he was bound to be on the losing side which consisted of Uchiha Madara mainly because of all the atrocious acts she heard him commit.

But, hey, who was she to judge? He too probably had his own reasons.

Naruko had no doubt that the man was dangerous and was convinced that as soon as he got the answers he was after, he would abandon her, promise or not. Redemption, or not.

But, at least she was able to sleep soundly these days because of him and thanks to the belly full of meat courtesy of his hunting. He had hunted two rabbits and when she devoured her share in minutes, he looked a bit perplexed as if he was reaffirming something. Then he gave her most of his share too which she took without any hesitation.

The strange thing was he wasn't offended to her impolite behavior, looking like he was somewhat already used to this behavior.

It was almost mid-noon by the time the sunrays reached them and for the mist to clear up. The air seemed fresh, as she could hear waves roaring from a distance.

Sasuke stalked ahead a little, and she could have sworn that even the trees seemed to bend away from him as he held his hand in a silent motion to wait.

She obeyed silently, lingering in the patches of shadows and hoping that he wouldn't signal them to go back towards the tangle of trees, praying that he wouldn't deny her this step into free, bright and open-world.

Sasuke motioned with his single hand again to come forward. All was clear.

The female Uzumaki was silent as she stepped beside Sasuke, passing the last line of trees. She blinked slightly at the flood of sunshine, standing on a high Rocky River bank.

The water flowed into the ocean, she guessed and looked at the ocean which was visible in the far of distance. It looked so wide that she could bet that she wouldn't be able to swim it, and that crossing that had to lead to Land of fire and her homeland, Uzushiogakure.

Hills and Meadows of green grass swayed on the other side of the river, slightly rustling against the wind producing a silent whisper under a cloudless blue sky, stretching forever to meet the grey patches of ocean in the far of horizon.

"I can't remember," she murmured quietly, the words barely audible against the rampaging river beside them. "The last time I saw…" It was in the land of Eddy where she had been locked in one of the ruined towers. Then, she was sold by her uncle to the village where she ended at. She didn't remember travelling there as she was unconscious when she was transported.

"The road is a little more or less than a mile from here," Sasuke said, his lone orb not moving away from her. He had to admit though, for a moment there she looked peaceful and could have sworn that there were tears of happiness as she took in the sunlight dancing in the meadow and little birds that were all over the place. "If this plan of yours is to work, then I suggest you to set into motion."

He probably thought that it was best to reach Land of fire by foot before he got the confirmation from Kakashi. After all, this could all be an elaborate plan from them. A trap.

She cut him a glance, "If this ruse is to work, then you need to… talk a bit more and look less intimidating."

Sasuke shot her a warning which she ignored as she bent and took out a spare leather strap from her jacket. She then soaked it in the river for few seconds and got back.

"Tie this around your forehead. That way, your chicken wings…" She trailed off at the slight warning in his eyes at his hair being called chicken wings. "Remain straight and make you seem more like a human." She then hesitantly took her hand and reached his face. Finding some courage, she stilled herself as she brushed aside his bangs that were covering his left eye and gasped.

Sasuke, annoyed that she touched him without permission, was about to open his mouth but couldn't say anything as his anger vanished after hearing her next words.

"…so beautiful." She whispered, and Sasuke was stunned for a moment when he observed her face. Her bubbly eyes seemed to glow under the sun, the warm breeze slightly swaying her hair as the light shone further highlighting her delicate features.

She was the first to break out of the trance, "Sorry for staring. I won't ask about it, but you need to cover that eye." She wrapped the strap around his forehead, as Sasuke's fingers held the strap to his forehead. She went around, and tied the strap at the back. Then, she strode forward and took some folds out of the cloth to cover his left eye. "If anyone asks, you lost your left eye in an accident."

Sasuke wanted to say that all this wasn't necessary since he could just genjutsu his way through, but she was clearly against him using the sharingan. Not that he could blame her after what happened two years ago.

And, she seemed highly intellectual for someone to be Naruto's sister. Don't get him wrong, Naruto was a genius, but in a more practical way. He normally barges in on the opponent without any sort of plan but had plenty of craftiness to make up for that. So far, this girl seemed to be less loud though annoying at times and seemed to be planning many things at a time in that pretty head of hers.

Perhaps, if she were really the dobe's sister, maybe she took after the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato. Given the crude talent she possessed for a sensory ninja despite no training, he had no doubt about it.

As she finished adjusting his hair, she stepped back to look at her make-over. Now, he seemed like a normal citizen… more approachable and less intimidating and not the infamous Uchiha.

"And you?" He asked.

The blonde surveyed herself, setting down her pack. First, she removed the jacket, even though it felt like she was stripping down a layer making her feel a bit vulnerable. She then rolled of the sleeves of her white shirt. But, without the jacket, her full breasts could be seen – making her seem more like a woman and less like a runaway girl that many assumed.

She then turned her attention to her hair, ruffling it out before tying her long hair into a pony. She then stuffed her jacket and sword into her bag and stood straight to face the former Avenger.

His lone orb surveyed her from head to toes before it rested on the apparently clear bulge in the chest area. He frowned, "Big tits won't prove anything."

Her cheeks heated up, "Perhaps, but they'll keep men distracted enough so that they won't ask any questions."

If she was ready to do this despite her insecurities, he had to wonder how much she was afraid of sharingan. That would have been effective and easy. Well, her loss.

She started walking upstream, leaving the Uchiha to his musings. She tried not to think about the men who had touched and sneered in that cell. But, if that got her safely across that check post, she would use her body to her advantage. Men liked to see what they want, women who did not turn away at their attention and talked to them warmly. Someone trust worthy, someone sweet yet unremarkable.

Sasuke trailed behind, then caught up to walk beside her like an actual companion and not some redeeming guy who was only helping her as in helping himself for the last couple hundred meters.

They then stopped at the hill top and looked down at the check post that was supposed to have been present. Both their jaws dropped a little as they looked at the sight before them.

Many wagons were in a huge line by the road. There seemed to be a small hotel and inn sort of thing along the road way. Around thousand people seemed to be present there, who looked like ants as they strode the marsh coast and walked around.

And, in the far of distance, they could see around hundred guards plus shinobi present along either side of the docks, collecting tolls. They were checking and inspecting each and every person's face before allowing them to ride the boats that probably took them to other lands.

Sasuke was the one who was surprised the most. When he arrived here by boat, there were only a few handful guards present. He wrote it off as routine inspection, but boy talk about a major upgrade.

A mini battalion seemed to be present here and he had no doubt that it was for the girl beside him. Just how much was she important to them? Kakashi, you better not slack off and provide the requested information quickly!

* * *

 **See you guys in the next chapter.**


End file.
